US sacrifices in the fight against terror

As America's senior diplomat in London, I read George Monbiot's article about US policy both in sorrow and in anger (America's war on itself, December 21).

Mr Monbiot's claim that the US "armed and groomed" Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein is patently false. We did support Afghans who fought Soviet occupation, but we did not arm Bin Laden. You don't have to take my word for it. In his memoirs, his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, rejects the claim that the US financed or trained the Arab mujahideen (not even "one penny", he says). Nor did the US arm Saddam Hussein. Historians will debate for years to come the merits of US policies towards Iran and Iraq during the 1980s, but whatever they conclude, they will not find that Iraq's tanks, planes or guns were made in America.

The US is also a strong supporter of multilateral institutions and treaties, including the UN. Monbiot's assertion otherwise ignores the work the US is doing with the UN to fight the scourge of HIV/Aids (we provide more funding than all other donors combined), combat terrorism and prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruc tion. Concern about possible corruption in the UN oil for food program is not an attack on multilateral institutions. It is a common sense question of accountability and something we all expect from our own governments. The world should not accept the possibility that humanitarian aid ended up in the hands of a tyrant without doing everything we can to make sure it never happens again.

Mr Monbiot is right that the US has not signed or ratified the Kyoto protocol. The US believes Kyoto is the wrong approach to climate change. But Monbiot is too quick to dismiss or distort our reasons for holding this view. It certainly is in America's interest to have a healthy economy, but when you realize the importance of the US economy as an engine for global growth, it is clear that interest in a healthy US economy extends well beyond America's shores. It is also in America's interest to deal with climate change. And the fact is that the US is engaged in wide-ranging efforts to address climate change through development of more energy-efficient technologies, increasing reliance on cleaner energy sources and exploration of methods to capture and sequester carbon emissions. The US will spend almost $6bn on activities to address climate change this year.

Finally, Mr. Monbiot's rhetorical twist on our counterterrorism efforts and policies are out of bounds. We lost 3,000 Americans on September 11, and we have sacrificed our sons and daughters since then to avoid a repetition of that awful day. Rhetorical flights of fancy about this threat are repugnant to all Americans. I would suggest Mr Monbiot refer to and memorise the wisdom expressed in the Guardian leader on December 18: "Terrorism is not imaginary. Al-Qaida is not an invention. There are groups, large and small, professional as well as ramshackle, that would kill as many of us as they could if they had a chance. It is in our interest that they not do so."

Fair enough that Monbiot disagrees with the US approach to Kyoto, but what he presents as America's policy on terrorism and climate change, as with so much else in his piece, is at best a caricature, at worst misleading.David T Johnson Chargé d'Affaires, United States embassy